During the course of wireless communication device usage, the wireless communication device can loose connectivity to a cellular network, resulting in an out of service (OOS) condition. Loss of connectivity can be due to a variety of reasons. In some cases, loss of connectivity can result from the wireless communication device moving to an area with limited or no coverage. As another example, loss of connectivity can result from the wireless communication device experiencing a temporary loss of reception due to a fading condition, such as can result from a shadowing effect in an urban location, such as when a wireless communication device is located in an elevator.
When a wireless communication device experiences an OOS condition as a result of losing network connectivity, the wireless communication device typically scans for network service to reacquire network connectivity. In many cases, the wireless communication device can repeatedly scan unsuccessfully for networks and cause battery depletion, especially when the wireless communication device is in an area where there is no coverage. Some wireless communication devices attempt to reduce battery depletion resulting from unsuccessful scan attempts by applying a back-off algorithm in which the intervals between scan attempts are gradually increased over time. However, application of a back-off algorithm to reduce battery depletion can have a negative tradeoff, as when the wireless communication device moves into a location where network coverage exists, there can be an undesirable delay in re-establishing network connection due to the increased interval between scan attempts.